ZM YOU DISAPPOINT ME

Is this what you really want to do zombie? Do you want to silence others' views if they differ from yours? That is not what freedom of speech is all about ZM and you know this. I am ashamed for you ZM that you take such pride in gagging another. ZM do you want to be like Bush and his cronies, limiting speech from those that disagree with your views? ZM I feel as though you are trying to take advantage of JC being on vacation for a while and wow I never expected it from you.

Now I want everyone here to please let us know, do you feel like it is the right thing to quieten others' views?

ZM shame on you, never again preach for freedoms, for you are as guilty as Bush silencing those that disagree with you.

SR DUDE NEEDS OUR SUPPORT!!!!

In the RISING of the SUN
and in its going down,
WE REMEMBER THEM.

When we are weary
and in NEED of STRENGTH,
WE REMEMBER THEM.

When we are lost
and SICK at Heart,
WE REMEMBER THEM.

When we have JOYS
we yearn to SHARE,
WE REMEMBER THEM.

So as long as we live, THEY too shall LIVE
for they are now a part of us as
WE REMEMBER THEM.





Saturday night Sr Dude lost his lovely wife June. Sr Dude is a well loved member of pal and needs all of our support through this difficult time for him. I know nothing we can say will take away his pain, but letting him know our thoughts and wishes are with him maybe can give him some much needed support. You can let Sr Dude know you support him here at The Rattler

or


ALL OUR LOVE TO SR DUDE (OutSide TheBucket)

or


SUPPORT SR DUDE (The Social Issues Tattler)

or


OUR HEARTFELT SYMPATHY SR DUDE ( Social Issues Photo Album)


No matter where or how you want to give your love to Sr Dude, doesn't matter. What does matter is letting him know we all have him in our hearts.

I want to thank all the bloggers for uniting in this time of sorrow.

Isa thank you very much for letting us all know so we can show our love and support to Sr Dude.

NET CENSORSHIP IN AUSTRALIA

Yesterday, out of the blue, Senator Coonan introduced a Bill into the Senate that would give the Australian Federal Police sweeping and unchecked powers to block access to Internet material by decree, based on what the police 'believe' the purpose or effect of the material is.

Parliament may not sit again before the Federal election is called. This Bill is typical of the contempt with which the coalition treats the Internet and the rights of all Australians to be free of ill-conceived government censorship. Should the coalition be returned to power, this Bill is likely to become law. Remember these issues on election day.

http://www.efa.org.au/Publish/PR070920.html

STING POLICING

AN assistant US attorney from Florida has been arrested for allegedly flying to Michigan to have sex with a five-year-old girl. John D.R. Atchison, 53, was arrested after he participated in internet conversatons with a detective posing as a mother who was interested in letting men have sex with her young daughter.

Catching these rock spiders is a good thing, but the methodology disturbs me.

How coercive and enabling are these entrapment police? How long before 'thought crime' is a reality? How much crime would have actually been committed without the instigation of police?

TEFLON TROOPS

A US Marine Corps officer accused of failing to properly investigate the alleged massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha has been cleared of wrongdoing, the military said today.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22444050-401,00.html

That would leave only one soldier, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, facing murder charges in connection with the deaths

MORE APEC BULLSHIT

New South Wales police officers who took off their identification badges during APEC protests will escape punishment after a police inquiry found they feared the pins on the badges could be used against them.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/18/2036356.htm

BUT!... there were NO pins, just velcro strips.

Well, I do not want to be ruled by pride

So, as appreciative as I am to have had these few weeks here as a team member, I must admit that my style does not suit here; I cannot escape the feeling of needing to mold myself into something I am not. I shall be revoking my membeship and returning to giving occasional comments. My thanks to Facetious Muse for the opportunity.

zombiemaster, et al, gloat away, sir. :)

Petition:zombiemaster should stay

He' s valuable, and special.

I'll sign below.


"I want zombiemaster to stay as a contributor to The Rattler"
Eff25

Please sign.

CAN A LEOPARD CHANGE ITS SPOTS?

Here is an extract of a post by zombiemaster dated Sunday, January 07, 2007. I can't help chuckling to myself after reading it:

"Yes, I am changing my style to become more accessable to the readers. Have I sold out? No, I am trying to work on my people skills and engage in the rules of proper debate.

PEACE TO YOU ALL IN THE YEAR 2007
ZM"

Who thinks zombiemasters' people skills have improved? lol

AN OPEN CALL.........................

First of all, I want to thank all the mindless fuckheads for the funny comments on the last post I wrote. i ask that you all contuine to slam me and mock me until my name is removed as an author. Well, let's just say I will up the antte a bit more to show I mean business.

I AM ASKING ALL SPAMMERS AND HACKERS TO ATTACK THIS BLOG AND RUIN IT! THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS, COME ON IN AND TAKE OVER AND LOCK US OUT OF THE BLOG AND DESTROY IT HOWEVER YOU PLEASE! SO SHALL IT BE WRITTEN , SO SHALL IT BE DONE IN THE NAME OF GEORGE W BUSH!

A FUCKING MEN.........

ARMS RACE INSANITY

RUSSIA has tested the world's most powerful vacuum bomb, which unleashes a destructive shockwave with the power of a nuclear blast, with the military dubbing it the "father of all bombs".
It is four times more powerful than the US-built massive ordnance air blast bomb — MOAB, also known under its name Mother of All Bombs.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/russia-tests-father-of-bombs/2007/09/12/1189276807323.html

As we rush headlong into a slavery of fear, The military juggernaut rolls on, crushing all humanity in it's path.

THE MARK OF GREATNESS....

Ok, enough of the 9/11 peace,love and happiness bulshit.......

So, the other esteemed writers on this pile of junk think that I am having another mood swing when I posted on my unhappiness of the addition of that 2nd rate hack of a writer Eff25 (or as he is to be referred to from now on as thatfucker25). In repayment the other writers are now taking shots at the most powerful author on this blog,ME! the joke will be on you guys because i brough the rating and the commenters. As soon as I left, they left too and the blog died. I can see why the nameless had a field day wuith this place, you writers are a joke and have all ripped off my style of writing and also my greatness. However, those who vist here realize that once I left, so did the greatness I brought left also.

Also, from reading the comments I see that Zipdick and ohnonotthatcocksucker are enjoying the cracking jokes at my greatness. Do you know I get a good laugh at your homos when I'm in paltalk under my other 56 names. Nobody talks about this blog in rooms. i can't even get SIP to come up with new jokes about the rattler because this place is played out. Also, could you think of removing my name off the list of hack writers over there? I don't belong with those class of losers or maybe sending Isabella a bar of soap so she dont stink up this place. Wait, she fits right in with the rest of you.

SIX YEARS ON

Above all the criticism, We feel for your loss as our own.

Above politics, we mourn with you.

Above all, we are still your friends.

BULLSHIT BAFFLES BRAINS

Presenting the Petraeus report was a farce from the outset. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-iraqcolor11sep11,1,4007276.story?coll=la-news-a_section&ctrack=1&cset=true
(see the charts and graphs .pdf files, very interesting use of visuals)

Then the spin was applied.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aJHVt5tvrxBM&refer=home

Petraeus's Credibility Wins Bush Extra Time for Iraq Strategy .........BULLSHIT!

Petraeus's assessment that violence in Iraq has fallen since the U.S. buildup was questioned last week by Congress's investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office.

We covered the GOA report HERE http://ratttler.blogspot.com/2007/08/surge-not-working.html

The amount of spin applied to this story is incredible. This is extraordinary use of disinformation for political expediency. The effrontery is outrageous.

MORE BUSH GAFFES

U.S President George W. Bush, renowned for his mispronunciation of words during his speeches, once again made audiences laugh during his address to the business summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum in Australia.

http://www.reuters.com/news/video/videoStory?videoId=65846

FAT NOSED OSAMA

Mainstream press has made a big deal of comparing the latest Osama tape images with previous images to confirm his identity. What is obvious to me is that the comparison is being made with the previous images of Osama that are doubtful anyway.
The fat nosed, right handed, gold wearing Osama is the image they are comparing with as proof that it is indeed Osama.
When one adds this to the selective quotes and interperetation of those quotes to the mix it feels like another scam.

Al-Qaeda is plotting fresh attacks on the United States aimed at sowing death and destruction on a massive scale, CIA director Michael Hayden warned yesterday

"Our analysts assess with high confidence that al-Qaeda's central leadership is planning high-impact plots against the American homeland," Mr. Hayden told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York

He said the CIA would use "every inch we're given" by the U.S. government to wage the "war on terror" and hunt down militants.

Warning of 'mass casualties' comes as bin Laden tells Americans to end war by 'embracing Islam'

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=f0b3b434-4395-40c7-8206-ae5dd5e789d8&k=2064

I urge you to wade through the entire transcript of "Osama"s speech. If it is Osama, he tells it like it is:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B4D1DC75-FDEC-4516-8653-2D551838261C.htm

"I also want to bring to your attention that among the greatest reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union was their being afflicted with their leader [Leonid] Brezhnev, who was dominated by pride and arrogance and refused to recognise the facts on the ground.
"Since the first year of Afghanistan's invasion, reports indicated that the Russians were losing the war. However, he refused to admit this so that it would not be added as a defeat in his personal history - even though refusing to acknowledge defeat not only fails to change the truth for the wise ones, but also exacerbates the problem and increases the losses.
"How similar is your situation today to their situation about two decades ago? The mistakes of Brezhnev are being committed by Bush. When asked about the date of withdrawing his troops from Iraq, he said that the withdrawal will not take place during his term, but during the term of his successor. The significance of these words is not hidden."

I realise I'm having it both ways here, but hey, that's what our propagandists are doing. The collapse of USA isn't necessarily imminent, but we are well on the way. CHANGE DIRECTION! A sharp left turn is needed.

Is this tape to justify an attack on Iran?
WAKE UP AMERICA! TIME FOR ACTION!

UPDATE!..................

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2007/9/9/61032/95401

The parts where Osama refers to current events is stills only.

War is not a game for vengeance and pride

Once again, the tiresome argument that it's somehow our obligation to finish what our soldiers fought hard in no matter the cost, is being bandied about. This time by some group called Freedoms Watch. They play to emotion, putting out the sympathetic image of wounded veterans, reminding us of their sacrifices, and then telling us wars should be continued for the reasons typically given by some on the right; they also appear to be blaming Iraq for 9/11. It's the usual bull. I agree with providing medical care to these soldiers, and I am thankful for their bravery, but we shouldn't fight wars in the name of their sacrifices, that's foolish and deadly.

Correction made: Freedom's Watch is the name of the group, not Freedom Watch.

My apologies to some here and in PalTalk

I sincerely give empathetic apologies to your apparently crack-headed bases for making false characterizations about me, thus proven by your inabilities at nuance, logic, beyond an infant's, and being unable to not assert a god like knowledge and certainty about everything. Universe forbid you say "I don't know," or use a qualifier. Sorry, too, that your obfuscatory babbles haven't worked.

Oh, and I missed you Zombie. Have you gotten SIP to comment on how I've "ruined" the Rattler yet? I don't really want to be known for that, but, hell, it is kind of nice to see my name in print.

JOKE EXPOSES SECURITY FLAWS

This reveals the ludicrous nature of the intense security in place for our DEAR LEADERS. (It's also very Australian in that it "sticks it up" authority)

http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2007/sep/07/chaser-crew-reveal-all/

They eventually stopped just 10m from the InterContinental Hotel where US President George W. Bush is staying but only after Licciardello jumped from a black limousine dressed as al-Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden.

10 metres!!! ..They were only detected when they realised they had gone way further than they expected to be able to, and tried to turn around. What a fucking joke! Their "insecurity" passes declared it was a joke, but NOBODY checked them!

A MOMENTS REFLECTION

LETS NOT LOSE SIGHT OF THE HORIZON.
http://thegoodnessoflife.com/
Hug your kids!

NUKES NO ERROR

A B-52 landing at Barksdale is a non-event. A B-52 landing with nukes. That is something else.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/5/163835/2472?source=cmaile

The missiles transported across USA (see previous post, LOOSE CANNONS) appear to be destined for the middle east. This story is just beginning.

IMPORTANT UPDATE!

Minot Air Force Base officials say an airman from the base has died while on leave in Virginia.

http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=7064858&nav=S6aK

and here is a more detailed background of the flight.

http://www.thebulletin.org/columns/pavel-podvig/20070913.html

Suppose Iran really is a threat, even an imminent one

Then Bush's severe lack of credibility, thanks in no small part to his smug incompetence, has put the world at risk.

I really don't know if Iran is a threat, but I do know that fouling up in Iraq doesn't prove Iran isn't, but it does beg the question, what fools would gladly trust him to deal with Iran?

LOOSE CANNON

An Air Force squadron commander has been relieved of his command after five nuclear weapons were mistakenly loaded aboard a B-52 bomber and flown cross-country last week.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20427730

Incompetence of the first order. The fact that this was even possible exposes the madness this militarised world allows.

THE DECIDER PLOTS

THE Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days, according to a national security expert.

President George Bush intensified the rhetoric against Iran last week, accusing Tehran of putting the Middle East “under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust”. He warned that the US and its allies would confront Iran “before it is too late”.

Israel, which has warned it will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, has made its own preparations for airstrikes and is said to be ready to attack if the Americans back down.

Read the whole sad story.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2369001.ece

WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE THEY?

WHEN George W. Bush flies into Sydney tonight, one very awkward question will be in the minds of Australian security staff: where are the rocket launchers?

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22357222-2,00.html

The readers comments to the above article reveal the skepticism among the Australian people. Is this a real threat or another manufactured scare tactic?

An observed difference between left and right "radicalism."

Putting aside the argument over which one has the more extreme opinions and solutions, at least the left has, in large part, legitimate greivances, ones having to do with environmental and public health, rule of law, equality, and so on, with a basis in reality and the general public's will. While these exist to some level on the right, it all too often references the bible, or some other religious doctrine, to justify its complaints. As a basis for its complaints about society, the left is much more respectable, as science, respect for humanity, is what appears to motivate it. The right's "god says so" justification is not persuasive. It's hard to imagine the left exhibiting lunacy over Harry Potter.

Anti American people or their government?

Normally, I am tolerant of negative views about my country. I don't like that they exist (I believe most people have some nationalist sentiment toward their home nation, wanting it to be favorably perceived), but, knowing arrogance is an enemy of truth, I don't wish to engage in defenses of my nations where I might exaggerate its good deeds, and downplay its bad. I do, though, wonder if the negative views are fair in the relevant contexts to the given issues they come from. My way of dealing with it is usually self deprecating sarcasm.

What actually bothers me more than the negativity, which is prevailing, but more depressing than irritating, is what I consider two be the major offenses to intellectual honestly, and thus respectful criticism.

First, The United States is a constitutional republic: A government of public representatives, all of whom are constrained by constitutions, state and federal, as they are and may be amended. Although not loyal to the literal definition of the term, it is what many people have come to accept as a form of "democracy."

Understanding that, the distinction between the people of America and their government, so as to give some absolution to the former, is peculiar, but often not strongly believed anyway, apparently, by those trying to separate the two. Either American indifference, apathy, laziness, etc., is very much responsible for their government's actions, or they are pawns who can do nothing.

The second offense is an insincere compliment: While sincerity isn't always easy to ascertain, sweet words which apply broadly, and have little or nothing to do with the history, including any positive actions by America's government, do not come across as complimentary of America, but to friendly people in general.

Saying you "love America's mountain ranges," after making myriad condemnations of the nation, even praising its people's character, is not equitable.

If the intent is to not come across as anti American people, talking well of what they've done as a nation, not just their hospitality and their nations' geological make up, goes a long way. Otherwise, it would show more respect to not bother.